Contemporary literature

Contemporar y
Literature
WWII to the Present


Contemporar y
Influences
 Cold War & threat of
nuclear destruction
 Vietnam Conflict
 1960’s civil rights violence


Tone
 Tone is the attitude a
writer displays toward his
subject.


Tone in Contemporar y
Literature
 Emotional
 Humorous irony
 Concern w/connections
between people
 Antiheroes


Ironic Humor
 Contemporary writers look
at irony and absurd

situations as a cause for
subtle humor.
 “If you can’t fight it, you
might as well laugh.”


Social Concer n
 The attitude toward the
individual and society has
changed. We now view
individuals in relation to
others rather than as
isolated from others.


Social Concer n cont.
 Contemporary literature
often contains an implied
criticism of the barriers
between people.


The Anti-Hero
 An anti-hero is a
protagonist who has the
opposite qualities of a
hero. He/she may be
insecure, dishonest,
most often a failure.

Anti-Hero cont.
 The purpose of an antihero is not to garner
praise or criticism, but to
aid in understanding.


Strategies for Reading
Contemporar y Lit.
 Identify the emotions conveyed.
Does the narrator express emotions,
or does he seem detached?
 Notice any humor in the irony.
 Clarify what, if anything, is being
criticized and what just needs to be
understood and accepted.